Games industry criticises uni games courses

David Braben: "These degrees are a waste of time"

Games industry campaign group "Games Up?" has spoken out against British university games design courses, criticising the presence of 81 such degrees, with only four accredited by monitoring government body Skillset.

David Braben, chairman of Frontier Developments and spokesman for "Games Up?" said:

"95 per cent of video gaming degrees are simply not fit for purpose. Without some sort of common standard, like Skillset accreditation, these degrees are a waste of time for all concerned."

Serious decline

Northumbria University's Computer Games Engineering course requires a Maths A-Level for entry, and department staff say this often puts off prospective students.

Dan Hodgson, course leader, says the games industry is very demanding, and that the university makes this clear to its course applicants.

"We do have people who don't have the right mindset. We consistently tell them that this is one of the hardest courses we offer at this university. It's certainly not for the sort of people who want to laze around and play games for three years," he said.

"We are facing a serious decline in the quality of graduates looking to enter the industry," said Elite creator Braben.

"The death of maths, physics and computer science graduates is hitting us hard."